20th Century Fox via Everett Collection
50 years ago today -- March 2, 1965 -- The Sound of Music hit theaters in the United States. In honor of the iconic film's anniversary, we take a look behind the scenes of one of our favorite movies to share some things you may not have known.
1. While singing "I Have Confidence," Julie Andrews accidentally tripped in the Von Trapp courtyard.
plummerchristopher.tumblr.com
Director Robert Wise felt it added a much needed nervousness to the song and the character, so he decided to use it in the film.
2. Julie Andrews sang "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" to the Von Trapp children between filming.
happy-thought.tumblr.com
Since Mary Poppins hadn't been released yet, the kids all thought she made it up just for them.
3. Maria never uses the Captain's first name, Georg.
iseizetheday7.tumblr.com
She calls him only Captain, Sir, or Darling.
4. Christopher Plummer traveled to the Salzburg mountains to meet Captain's nephew and learn more about the character.
Since very little information was available about Captain Von Trapp for Plummer, he and his interpreter met with Captain's nephew to learn a bit about him. The nephew described the real man as the most boring man he'd ever met.
5. The day after the von Trapp family escaped Austria, Hitler ordered the borders shut.
6. They also took a train station to Italy and safety; they didn't hike over a mountain.
durillium.tumblr.com
Salzburg is much closer to Austria's border with Germany, and neither Italy nor Switzerland are within walking distance.
7. If they had hiked over a mountain, they'd find themselves near Hitler's mountain retreat in Germany.
8. Charmian Carr (Liesl) has admitted she was attracted to Christopher Plummer, who played her father.
strippermuffins.tumblr.com
Despite the 13 year age difference, Plummer admits that the feeling was mutual. He insists it never evolved beyond flirtation.
9. Director Robert Wise didn't get along with the real Maria von Trapp when she came to the set.
lejazzhot.com
He called her "bossy."
10. In the original play, ideological differences drive the Captain and the Baroness apart.
bellecs.tumblr.com
She wouldn't stand up to the Nazis, and he refused to compromise with them.
11. Grace Kelly had been considered for the part of the Baroness, but was a bit too busy, you know, being a princess.
12. The gazebo scene with Maria and the Captain was made a silhouette to hide the uncontrollable laughter of Julie Andrews.
20th Century Fox via Everett Collection
According to Andrews, a lighting device kept making a certain "raspberry" noise every time she leaned in to kiss Plummer. After more than 20 takes, the scene was changed to a silhouette to make her laughter less noticeable.
13. The real Von Trapp children weren't pleased with how stern their father was portrayed.
plummerchristopher.tumblr.com
Maria Von Trapp had asked Wise to soften the character a bit, but the director refused.
14. Kurt's high note in "So Long, Farewell" is actually sung by Liesl's real life younger sister.
geelmi.tumblr.com
The note was out of Duane Chase's range, so Charmian Carr's sister, Darlene, sang it instead.
15. Mia Farrow auditioned for the role of Liesl.
Liza Minnelli and Sharon Tate were also among those who tested for the part.
16. Christopher Plummer admits he was drunk when they filmed the music festival sequence.
lejazzhot.tumblr.com
17. The movie is one of only four films to win both the Tony Award for Best Musical/Play and the Oscar for Best Picture.
The others are My Fair Lady, A Man For All Seasons, and Amadeus.
18. Charmian Carr (Liesl) danced through "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" on an injured ankle.
During the first take of this scene, Carr slipped while leaping from a bench and fell through glass. She wasn't badly hurt, but her ankle was injured and needed to be wrapped for the scene.
19. Even though nobody had seen how she would perform on screen yet, Julie Andrews was always director Robert Wise's first choice.
lejazzhot.com
20. Yet she almost turned down the part, fearing it was too similar to Mary Poppins.
21. The actress who played Marta, Debbie Turner, kept losing teeth during filming.
loucaeapaixonadasempre.tumblr.com
They had to be replaced with false teeth.
22. The children kept growing during filming, so lots of heel lifts and camera tricks were needed for height continuity.
Louisa (Heather Menzies-Urich) started production three inches taller than Friedrich (Nicholas Hammond); he had to wear lifts. By the end of filming, he'd grown six inches. Liesl (Charmian Carr) had to stand on a box while Friedrich didn't wear shoes to help keep their heights consistent.
23. Nicholas Hammond had to endure a bunch of painful bleachings to turn brown hair blond for the film.
24. Christopher Plummer disliked filming so very much that he referred to the movie as "The Sound of Mucus."
25. Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, and Veronica Cartwright were among those who auditioned for roles as von Trapp children.
munchkin1946.tumblr.com
As did the four oldest Osmond brothers: Alan, Jay, Merrill, and Wayne.
26. The gazebo's interior scenes were shot in Los Angeles.
The inside of the actual gazebo was too small to accommodate the dance numbers.
thoughtcatalog.com
27. The gazebo can still be seen in Salzburg, but only from the outside.
Visitors were too frequently attempting to dance along the benches and injuring themselves, so the interior is now off limits.
28. Julie Andrews learned to play guitar specifically for this role.
29. Christopher Plummer also learned to play guitar for the role...but his playing was dubbed.
strippermuffins.tumblr.com
30. Christopher Plummer asked for "Edelweiss" to be replaced.
He thought the song was trite and "schmaltzy" and asked for it to be written out. Screenwriter Ernest Lehman refused.
31. There was nobody at the altar to officiate the wedding during filming because someone forgot to wake the actor.
taddat.tumblr.com
32. Julie Andrews has also claimed that the actual bishop of Salzburg can be spotted in the wedding scene.
33. It's not really Kym Karath (Gretl) on Captain's shoulders in the final shot as they climb the mountains to safety.
GIPHY
Karath had gained a bit of weight while filming in Austria, and evidently Christopher Plummer found her too heavy to carry on his back. He requested a stunt double.
34. Which is funny, since Plummer's weight gain required his costumes to be refitted for his extra mass.
He admitted he ate and drank in Austria in order to better cope with the unhappiness he felt from filming.
35. The movie features a rare onscreen performance by famed ghost singer Marni Nixon.
She played Sister Sophia. Nixon, who had previously done the vocals for Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Since Julie Andrews played Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway version but was passed over in favor of Hepburn for the film, producers were nervous to learn how she would react to Nixon's casting. Andrews approached her and exclaimed, "Marni, I'm a fan of you!"
36. Christopher Plummer has said working with Julie Andrews is like "being hit over the head with a big Valentine's Day card."
37. Julie Andrews kept getting knocked over from the helicopter's wind.
austinhomemaggiefalvey.tumblr.com
Though that iconic spin looks warm and sunny, Andrews only remembers how cold she was as she repeatedly ran across the mountain with the ferocious winds of the chopper above. She tried digging her feet into the ground without luck.
38. Director Robert Wise climbed a nearby tree in order to film that first musical number; he wanted to be able to watch the helicopter filming without getting in the shot himself.
39. Sean Connery and Richard Burton were both considered to play Captain.
40. The real Maria von Trapp makes a cameo.
In the "I Have Confidence" scene, as Julie Andrews walks beneath a brick archway, the real Maria can be seen behind her, dressed as a peasant.
41. Heinrich Himmler, famed Nazi, took over the von Trapp house after they escaped. Adolf Hitler visited him there more than once.
marypassw.tumblr.com
42. Kym Karath (Gretl) couldn't swim, so Julie Andrews was responsible for catching her when they fall out of the boat and into the water.
i-just-live.tumblr.com
On the second take, the boat tipped in a way that sent Andrews flying one way and Karath falling out the other side. Heather Menzies-Urich (Louisa) was tasked with saving her instead, which Andrews was haunted by.
43. Subsequently, Karath threw up all over Menzies-Urich after swallowing too much water.
44. The cast had to be continually hosed down in order to maintain a soaking wet look after falling into the water.
45. Liesl may have been 16 going on 17, but she was actually older than Rolfe.
ww2.kqed.org
Charmian Carr was 22 at the time she sang that song; Daniel Truhitte, who played Rolfe, is ten months younger than she is. Now who's older and wiser?
46. Shirley Jones, Anne Bancroft, and Doris Day were all considered for the part of Maria.
47. Robert Wise initially turned down the opportunity to direct the picture.
Stanley Donen, Vincent Donohue, Gene Kelly, and George Roy Hill were also approached and said no.
48. Mary Martin, wife of the producer of the original Broadway show and the first woman to play Maria made nearly $8,000,000 from the film.
fanartandstuffilove.tumblr.com
While Julie Andrews earned just $225,000.
49. According to British tabloid The Sun, it's one of the films chosen to show after a nuclear strike to improve morale.
Though this is unconfirmed by the BBC who declared it a security issue.
50. Peggy Wood (Mother Abbess) had a hard time lip-syncing along to "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."
She struggled to perfectly match the first word of the song, so director Robert Wise had her face away from camera when she began singing. When she looked at camera, she had caught up with the song enough to perfectly pass. The effect of her staring out the window in the beginning added a mystical element to the song and fit in better than originally planned.

Hollywood's former Batman, Michael Keaton, would reprise the superhero role "in a heartbeat" if director Tim Burton agreed to return.
The actor first played the Caped Crusader in 1989 blockbuster Batman and reprised the role in 1992 follow-up Batman Returns, both directed by Burton. Keaton has now revealed he would only consider stepping back into costume if he could work with Burton. When asked by Entertainment Weekly magazine if he would ever return to the role of Batman, Keaton replies:
"If it was Tim Burton directing? In a heartbeat. Tim, in the movies, really invented the whole dark superhero thing. He started everything, and some of the guys who have done these movies since then don't say that, and they're wrong." Keaton recently shocked fans when he revealed he has not watched Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, which featured Christian Bale in the lead role, saying, "Chris Nolan is great, but I've never seen any of the Batman movies all the way through. I know they're good. I just have zero interest in those kinds of movies."

Oscar nominated moviemaker Stephen Frears is to be awarded the British Film Institute's (BFI) Fellowship this year (14). The Queen director will receive the BFI's highest honour during the 2014 London Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday (08Oct14).
Frears will accept the award at a special ceremony on 18 October (14) shortly before the movie event comes to an end.
BFI chairman Greg Dyke says in a statement, "Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen has produced a body of work which never fails to surprise - from sweeping costume drama to powerful social realism, his films strike a perfect balance between drama, humour and pathos helping to make them a hit with audience and critics alike. He is one of the U.K.'s most important directors and we are delighted to honour him."
Frears adds, "I've spent much of my life in the cinema and quite a lot of it at BFI Southbank. I'm thrilled by this Fellowship."
Previous recipients include Sir Christopher Lee, Tim Burton and Danny Boyle.

An exhibit based on the Batman film franchise is set to open in California later this month (Jun14). The Batman Exhibit will feature props, costumes, cars and memorabilia from Tim Burton's Batman movies and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
A press release reads, "You'll get see a wide range of authentic costumes including those worn by Poison Ivy, The Riddler, Mr Freeze and Catwoman as well as some infamous prop weapons such as the Joker's cards, Two-Face's coin, Penguin's umbrella and Bane's bomb."
The Batman Tour will launch on 26 June (14) at Warner Bros. VIP Studio Tour in Burbank, California to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the comic book hero's debut.

ZackSnyder/Twitter
Zack Snyder, director of enough obtuse mediocrity to justify suspicion of blackmail behind his landing the gig directing a movie about the two most beloved comic book characters in American history, has given the world its first glimpse of his take on the Dark Knight. Two shots from the set of Batman vs. Superman hit the web today via Snyder's Twitter account, showing off the latest version of the superhero's famed uniform and trusty ride.
ZackSnyder/Twitter
Though we can only guess how star Ben Affleck, depicted here with a glower for the ages, will treat the long familiar Bruce Wayne, we are offered a healthy glance at the Batsuit we'll be spending time with in this film. Just a costume, you might claim, but perhaps just as lively and vivacious as the man it cloaks (in Kilmer's case, even more so). In fact, if you look back through the history of the Batsuit — with our scientific breakdown — you'll find it has evolved quite a bit...
Batman: The Movie (1966)Starring Adam West, directed by Leslie H. MartinsonSUITIS ORIGINALIS
20th Century Fox Film via Everett Collection
Back when people wore things made of fabric and cloth, the Batsuit was a simple entity.
Batman (1989)Starring Michael Keaton, directed by Tim BurtonSUITIS SHIFTICUS
Warner Bros. Pictures
The 1970s must have seen a nuclear power plant lay waste to the waters of Gotham, because the genetic code of the Batsuit shifted dramatically between its first and second big screen incarnations. Here we see an all-black (save for the yellow pelvic logo) suit comprised ostensibly of galvanized rubber, armed with defensive wristular fins, and topped with a substantually more constricting headpiece. Because the '80s weren't about silly things like comfort or functionability.
Batman Returns (1992)Starring Michael Keaton, directed by Tim BurtonSUITIS CONSISTICUS
Warner Bros. Pictures via Everett Collection
Keaton and Burton's second go saw few changes to the Batsuit... though that mask does seem a little angrier this time...
Batman Forever (1995)Starring Val Kilmer, directed by Joel SchumacherSUITIS NIPLICUS
Warner Bros. Pictures via Everett Collection
Doing away with any semblance of subtlety, the '95 tin-plated model was mostly about intimidation: Abs. Pecs. Nipples.
Batman and Robin (1997)Starring George Clooney, directed by Joel SchumacherSUITIS REGRETIBLUS
Warner Bros. Pictures
Um. Hm.
Batman Begins (2005)Starring Christian Bale, directed by Christopher NolanSUITIS SERIUS
Warner Bros. Pictures via Everett Collection
Now things are getting serious. With a mask that allows not even for the occasional smile, the suit that reared its upsetting head in the Nolan era did away with any hint of color (be it yellow, silver, or gray), kept its contours angular, and found a fair balance between statuesque and athletic.
The Dark Knight (2008)Starring Christian Bale, directed by Christopher NolanSUITIS ANGRICUS
Warner Bros. Pictures via Everett Collection
Taking a page from the Kilmer book, The Dark Knight slapped Bale's sophomore uniform with a bit more pizzazz in the torso area — not showing off human muscles, per se, but an exoskeletal design reminiscent of weaponry. Dark times, those aughts.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)Starring Christian Bale, directed by Christopher NolanSUITIS CROSFITUS
Warner Bros. Pictures via Everett Collection
Sleeker, slighter, and stocked with arm straps and shoulder pads. The most extreme species of Batsuit we've yet to see.
Batman vs. Superman (2016)Starring Ben Affleck, directed by Zack SnyderSUITIS AFLECUS
ZackSnyder/Twitter
The diminutive ears of the original, the light feel of the Keatons, the abdominal audacity of the Kilmer era, and the colorless palate of the Bale/Nolans... plus, inscrutably, so many veins. Affleck's Batsuit has taken a few traits from each of its ancestors (except the Clooney one) to become a species all its own.
Follow @Michael Arbeiter| Follow @Hollywood_com

Warner Bros via Everett Collection
Although Batman may not be the oldest cinematic superhero (that title goes to Superman), Bruce Wayne’s alter ego is probably the most beloved and iconic. In a movie genre that is features dozens of superheroes from both Marvel and DC comic book universes, Batman is still one of the fan favorites. Since Ben Affleck will be helping Batman returning to the big screen in 2015 alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman, let’s take a look back at caped crusader’s best incarnations on film and in TV.
George Clooney
The general consensus is that Clooney was the worst Batman of all time. His wooden delivery of bad puns and the infamous “nipple suit” essentially killed the Batman franchise of the '90s. However, for those who love a good pun (or a couple dozen terrible puns), Batman &amp; Robin can still be enjoyable.
Val Kilmer
As the predecessor to Clooney’s Batman, Kilmer’s wasn’t much better. However, he managed to pull off the humor in Batman Forever a bit better alongside Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey. Kilmer should also be credited for knowing when to bail on the franchise because at least he jumped off the sinking Batship.
Adam West
Though most people under the age of 30 probably recognize West from his time voicing cartoon characters on Family Guy and The Fairly Odd Parents, he first became popular by playing Batman in the campy 1960s television show. Although it’s nothing like the gritty superhero films of today, if you ever catch Batman in reruns, it’s definitely worth a watch.
Will Arnett
The Lego Movie should appeal to Batman fans who might think the caped crusader has been taken a bit too seriously in recent years (looking at you Christopher Nolan and Frank Miller). Arnett’s Batman is more of a parody of the famous character, but still just as enjoyable — and probably even more hilarious.
Michael Keaton
After years out of the spotlight, Keaton (along with the help of Tim Burton) brought Batman back to the big screen. Following in West’s footsteps, though, Keaton was the first to emphasize the superhero’s darker side and he will forever hold that accolade within Batman history.
Christian Bale
After Clooney and the epic failure that was Batman &amp; Robin, the caped crusader needed a few years off. Then, Bale brought Batman back to life in Nolan’s insanely successful — both commercially and with fans — trilogy. Though the voice was often parodied, Bale totally revitalized Batman (and made way for Batfleck, which, let’s be honest, we’re all excited to see).
Follow @Hollywood_com
//
Follow @mollyrockit
//

DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
Follow @Michael Arbeiter
//
| Follow @Hollywood_com
//

Tribeca Film via Everett Collection
For a film that involves a love triangle, mental illness, a Bohemian colony of free-spirits, an impending war and several important historical figures, the most exciting elements of Summer in February are the stunning shots of the English country and Cornish seaside. The rest of the film never quite lives up to the crashing waves and sun-dappled meadows that are used to bookend the scenes, as the entertaining opening never manages to coalesce into a story that lives up the the cinematography, let alone the lives of the people that inspired it.
Set in an Edwardian artist’s colony in Cornwall, Summer in February tells the story of A.J. Munnings (Dominic Cooper), who went on to become one of the most famous painters of his day and head of the Royal Academy of Art, his best friend, estate agent and part-time soldier Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens), and the woman whom they both loved, aspiring artist Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning). Her marriage to Munnings was an extremely unhappy one, and she attempted suicide on their honeymoon, before killing herself in 1914. According to his journals, Gilbert and Florence were madly in love, although her marriage and his service in the army kept them apart.
When the film begins, Munnings is the center of attention in the Lamorna Artist's Colony, dramatically reciting poetry at parties and charming his way out of his bar tab while everyone around him proclaims him to be a genius. When he’s not drinking or painting, he’s riding horses with Gilbert, who has the relatively thankless task of keeping this group of Bohemians in line. Their idyllic existence is disrupted by the arrival of Florence, who has run away from her overbearing father and the fiancé he had picked out for her in order to become a painter.
Stevens and Browning both start the film solidly, with enough chemistry between them to make their infatuation interesting. He manages to give Gilbert enough dependable charm to win over both Florence and the audience, and she presents Florence as someone with enough spunk and self-possession to go after what she wants. Browning’s scenes with Munnings are equally entertaining in the first third of the film, as she can clearly see straight through all of his bravado and he is intrigued by her and how difficult she is to impress. Unfortunately, while the basis of the love triangle is well-established and entertaining, it takes a sudden turn into nothing with a surprise proposal from Munnings.
Neither the film nor Browning ever make it clear why Florence accepts his proposal, especially when they have both taken great pains to establish that she doesn’t care much for him. But once she does, the films stalls, and both Stevens and Browning spend the rest of the film doing little more than staring moodily and longingly at the people around them. The real-life Florence was plagued by depression and mental instability, but neither the film nor Browning’s performance ever manage to do more than give the subtlest hint at that darkness. On a few occasions, Browning does manage to portray a genuine anguish, but rather than producing any sympathy from the audience, it simply conjures up images of a different film, one that focused more on Florence, and the difficulties of being a woman with a mental illness at a time when both were ignored or misunderstood.
Stevens is fine, and Gilbert starts out with the same kind of good-guy appeal the won the heart of Mary Crawley and Downton Abbey fans the world over. However, once the film stalls, so does his performance, and he quickly drops everything that made the character attractive or interesting in favor of longing looks and long stretches of inactivity. He does portray a convincing amount of adoration for Florence, although that's about the only real emotion that Gilbert expresses for the vast majority of the film, and even during his love scene, he never manages to give him any amount of passion.
Cooper does his best with what he’s given, and tries his hardest to imbue the film with some substance and drama. His Munnings is by turns charming, brash, and brooding, the kind of person who has been told all of their life that they are special, and believes it. He even manages to give the character some depth, and even though he and Browning have very little chemistry, he manages to convey a genuine affection for her. It’s a shame that Munnings becomes such a deeply unlikable character, because Cooper is the only thing giving Summer in February a jolt of life – even if it comes via bursts of thinly-explained hostility. It's hard to watch just how hard he's working to connect with his co-stars and add some excitement to a lifeless script and not wish that he had a better film to show off his talents in.
Unfortunately, by the time Florence and Gilbert are finally spurred into activity, the film has dragged on for so long that you’re no longer invested in the characters, their pain, or their love story, even if you want to be. Which is the real disappointment of Summer in February; underneath the stalled plot and the relatively one-note acting, there are glimmers of a fascinating and compelling story that’s never allowed to come to the forefront.
2/5
Follow @hollywood_com
//
Follow @julesemm
//

CTMG
It's no secret that directors often cast the same actors over and over in different projects. After all, they've made a strong connection, proven that they work well together, and have become like a cinematic family. So, when David O. Russell needed to cast his latest film, American Hustle, he didn't have to look far for talent; he chose actors he had previously directed in the Oscar-nominated films The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook. With that much talent and camaraderie on board, its no wonder that the film has been getting a great deal of awards buzz, and even earned 7 Golden Globe nominations.
But Russell isn't the only director to have found success with a particular combination of actors. In fact, some of the most critically and financially successful films in recent years have come from similar teams. In honor of American Hustle hitting theaters this weekend, we've decided to rank five famous director and actor teams in order to determine who has the most successful partnership of them all.
5. David O. Russell: Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence. Though the newest addition to the list, the Russell and Co. partnership has already had a great deal of critical success. Adams and Bale starred in 2010's The Fighter, which earned Russell and Adams each an Oscar nomination, and a Best Supporting Actor win for Bale. Russell followed that up with last year's Silver Linings Playbook, for which he was nominated for Best Director once again, along with Cooper's Best Actor nod and Lawrence's Best Actress win. Despite that, they still rank the lowest on our list, as they've been a team for the shortest amount of time. Sure, everything they've touched has turned to Oscar gold so far, but it's still too soon to tell whether or not their partnership will stand the test of time.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 2 for everyone Years of Partnership: 3 (Adams and Bale), 2 (Cooper and Lawrence) Highest grossing film: Silver Linings Playbook, $132 million Number of Oscar nominations: 3 (Russell), 1 (Bale, Lawrence, Adams, Cooper) Number of Oscar wins: One each for Lawrence and Bale Most Critically Acclaimed Film: Silver Linings Playbook, 92%
4. Christopher Nolan: Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Cillian Murphy. Nolan's team is by far the most financially successful, due primarily to all of these actors playing significant roles in the Batman franchise. When it came time for Nolan to branch out from superheroes into an original film, Inception, he took along Caine and Murphy, both of whom have worked with the director for a long time. It was working on Inception that he discovered Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt, who he promptly cast in the final Batman film. But despite their massive box office success, this team earns the fourth spot on our list due to Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt being such recent additions.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 6 (Caine), 4 (Murphy), 2 (Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt)Years of Partnership: 8 (Caine and Murphy), 3 (Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt)Highest Grossing film: The Dark Knight, $553.3 millionNumber of Oscar nominations: 2 (Nolan)Number of Oscar wins: 0Most Critically Acclaimed Film: The Dark Knight, 94%
3. Wes Anderson: Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson. Though this team is neither the most critically or financially successful group on the list, they earn their number-three spot by being one of the more iconic groupings in cinema. Whenever Anderson makes a new film, it's guaranteed that these actors will appear in some capacity, and they have come to epitomize the director's cinematic style and tone. With nearly 20 years of work under their belts, there's no doubt that this team will be one that endures for much longer; with Anderson's films gaining more and more critical and public attention, we're sure it's only a matter of time before they catch up to the other teams in both awards and box office returns.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 7 (Bill Murray and Owen Wilson), 5 (Jason Schwartzman)Years of Partnership: 17 (Wilson), 15 (Murray and Schwartzman)Highest Grossing film: Moonrise Kingdom ($45.5 million)Number of Oscar nominations: 3 (Anderson)Number of Oscar wins: 0Most Critically Acclaimed Film: Moonrise Kingdom, 94%
2. Tim Burton: Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp. This team is a good example of the adage "too much of a good thing." Although fans have enjoyed seeing Bonham Carter and Depp onscreen together for years, Burton's insistence on working primarily with these two actors has resulted in the partnership becoming something of a punchline, and has left many people blaming the recent decline in the quality of Burton's films on his reluctance to embrace new actors or styles. Despite this, the three of them have become one of the most iconic teams in film history, and have enjoyed a great deal of both critical and box office success over the time that they have spent working together. Depp and Burton also hold the distinction of having made the most films together out of all of the teams on our list, and many of those films are considered to be modern classics.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 8 (Depp), 7 (Carter)Years of Partnership: 23 (Depp), 12 (Carter)Highest grossing film: Alice in Wonderland ($334 million)Number of Oscar nominations: 0Number of Oscar wins: 0Most Critically Acclaimed Film: Sweeney Todd, 86%
1. The Coen Brothers: Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, and John Turturro. It makes sense that the director(s) with the most successful team of actors would, themselves, be a team. Over the course of almost 30 years — the longest partnership of any team on the list — Joel and Ethan Coen have directed their group of favorite actors in some of the best and most critically acclaimed films in recent history. They also hold the record for the most Oscar nominations any grouping on this list has received, and that's without including the clean sweep of awards that No Country For Old Men earned in 2007. They've also got the chance to put more distance between themselves and the other teams on this list this year, as the Goodman-starring Inside Llewyn Davis has been getting a lot of awards attention.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 6 (McDormand, Goodman, Buscemi), 4 (Turturro)Years of Partnership: 29 (McDormand), 26 (Goodman), 23 (Buscemi and Turturro)Highest Grossing film: Burn After Reading, $60 millNumber of Oscar nominations: 5 (Coen Brothers), 1 (McDormand)Number of Oscar wins: One each for the Coen Brothers and McDormand. Most Critically Acclaimed Film: Fargo, 94%
Follow @hollywood_com
//
Follow @julesemm
//

Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
Follow @Michael Arbeiter
//
| Follow @Hollywood_com
//